How often do you take a beach walk?
On Sunday, with much on my mind, I got into my car and drove to Popham Beach and walked for an hour along that long expansive stretch of sand which, at low tide, seemed positively vast and limitless.
Popham has been a favored beach since my days as a student at Bowdoin College. Now, as a man well into his sixties (and a Maine resident) it has become a refuge; a place I turn to for long hikes in all seasons... and where I can often find time for reflection on life's larger complexities and conundrums.
My very difficult and unhappy father still had its moments of insight. Once when visiting me in Ireland - when I was running the Abbey Theatre's second stage, The Peacock - I brought him down in my old Morris Minor to a wonderful beach in Wicklow, Brittas Bay; a wild, open, savage place. It was a martini crisp autumn day with a rare clear sky. We walked along the sands for a good hour. And my father - a man who carried much frustration and rage within - suddenly turned to me and said:
"Who needs a shrink when you can walk a beach?"
To which I could only think:
"If only my father pushed away his prejudices against therapists and found a good one he might have a happier final act of his life".
He never did have that happier final act. He died in a bad place. And walking Popham Beach on Sunday all I could think was:
A beach is a true refuge. Just curious and this is really a moving question. We are coming down in two weeks to look around with thoughts of moving. We are a quiet, married couple in our 40's. Our two loves are our animals (2 dogs, 3 cats) and the beach. We take several beach vacations a year and love the ocean. We thought since we work remote why not just move to a beach somewhere. Melbourne fits nicely with our budget and quiet lifestyle. A friend of ours who used to live by the beach said it's cool for the first year and then the novelty wears off and you stop going to the beach. I'm wondering how true that is? Do you still go to the beach often is at all anymore? People who live close to an ocean, how often do you go to/hang out at the beach?
I don't live anywhere close to a large body of water. Do you guys hang out at the beach often? Do you hang out at the beach at night? I live in a city surrounded by rivers (Montreal) and any chance I get, I go down to the river with some friends, chill, start a small fire, have a few beers and do some urban fishing. I could only imagine how much more awesome the whole experience would be living close to an ocean where there's more land, more water, and more open space! People who live near coast, how frequently do you go to the beach and how much time do you spend there? How often do you go for a beach walk?
Do you enjoy them? Why? What town/city do you live in and why is it nice / not nice? Long walks on the beach are not enjoyable.
Have you ever TRIED to walk in the sand? Especially if it's full of sticks or rocks or bugs. But even if the sand is clean, it's not a solid surface so your legs work way harder to even walk straight. It's really hard to walk on the beach. It's exhausting.
Not in the water... in the hard sand near the waters edge.... I live in Scotland where it is never warm enough to get your feet wet in the sea but I also go for a walk along the beach every day in the wet hard sand because its relaxing and not wet...
Also, yes, you're feet will get wet. But for one, it's just water, you'll most likely survive it, and also, that's like half of the fun of beach walks, to have your feet in the water. Sidewalks on beaches don't count. That's not walking on the beach. That's walking on a sidewalk on the beach. I live in Los Angeles, near some beaches, despite this, I pretty much never go to the beach , maybe once in every 3 months, and I’m wondering if this is the same for other people. It’s almost like I take it for granted, but when I lived in a non-coastal town, I missed the beach. Am I alone or do my coastal Americans do the same? How often do you go to the beach, if you've ever been?
Ocean beaches, not lake/river beaches. I'm particularly interested to hear from folks in interior states like Nebraska. Is the beach treated like Disney World, where you go maybe once in your childhood just for the experience? Do young folks still plan for big spring break road trips to the best beaches?
Went for a walk by the beach yesterday but couldn't enjoy it because there were too many people
I'm proud of myself for finally fathering the motivation to go for a walk. I usually go out at night since there are less people, but the weather was nice and I just knew that if I waited I'd just end up staying home. Plus, it just not the safest idea to go out at night. I wasn't planning to go by the beach for the exact reason that I knew it was going to be busy, but went anyway. I truly do love walking on the beach... in theory. I just can't relax when there are people around. It wasn't even THAT busy but I just knew I'd enjoy it so much more if I was the only one there. Living in the city I know that's not possible, but I just hate that I'm like this. I'd go out way more often if could just walk on empty streets. I feel so pathetic cause it's not like I'm interacting with these people. I'm just walking by. Why do I have to be so self conscious?
EDIT: If you go to the beach, how long is the journey? Do you drive, fly, or take public transportation of some sort? I grew up in Florida and never considered myself much of a beach person, but naturally I've been to the beach more times than I could ever count. I recently saw someone from Idaho say that they had never been to a body of water that they couldn't see across, and that set me to wondering about everyone else. I am lucky enough that I'll be spending a few months in a Mexican beach hown and I'm using this largely as a fitness camp to undo my laziness of the pandemic. There's a boxing gym so will be training there, but for my morning runs I have an interesting option available that I haven't had before, running on a beach instead of road.
I go to the beach a few times if a club I'm in has a social there, but outside of that? Eh, I'm pretty lazy (and busy, rip), so not a whole lot. It's mainly like if I get out of a class or work and my next thing is cancelled or postponed and I realize I'm already on campus and I have a block of time free so I might as well head down and just relax.
Pretty much the only people who go to the beach are those who normally live inland or in a different state and have never seen the beach before.
Me and several of my friends lived pretty close to the beach before coming here so it's nothing that special. Especially with the beach here being trashed by college students, there are definitely better beaches out there.
Other than the great views though, is this a good idea? The extra resistance as my feet dig into sand means the pure distance I can do is lowered, but idk if that is offset by well, it being extra work. It probably should be stated that I am somewhat overweight too, so maybe less impact is a good thing?
When I was a sophomore living in an 8 person cluster in San Rafael, my roommate and I would jump in it once a day since it was so close. He was a crazy bastard and pro athlete so definitely not your average student, but swore doing so would make our lives better infinitely. I'd say he was right
As a 1st year you'll probably go to the beach more often if you live in the on campus dorms (every dorm but FT). They're right by the beach and campus point. If you live off campus you'll probably go until the novelty wears off especially considering how far you'll be from it.
How often do you go to the beach?
I live kinda close to a sea, so at least once a month - my family would go there.
Then I ask one of my online friends who live in a landlocked part in China (it would days to reach the nearest coastline from where he lives). Says he has never seen the sea or been to a beach ever. Honestly I'm not sure if any actual science exists for this, as any googling has just led me to unreliable looking health blogs. But I guess I'd rather trust the anecdotal experience of people here over those.
Popham has been a favored beach since my days as a student at Bowdoin College. Now, as a man well into his sixties (and a Maine resident) it has become a refuge; a place I turn to for long hikes in all seasons... and where I can often find time for reflection on life's larger complexities and conundrums.
My very difficult and unhappy father still had its moments of insight. Once when visiting me in Ireland - when I was running the Abbey Theatre's second stage, The Peacock - I brought him down in my old Morris Minor to a wonderful beach in Wicklow, Brittas Bay; a wild, open, savage place. It was a martini crisp autumn day with a rare clear sky. We walked along the sands for a good hour. And my father - a man who carried much frustration and rage within - suddenly turned to me and said:
"Who needs a shrink when you can walk a beach?"
To which I could only think:
"If only my father pushed away his prejudices against therapists and found a good one he might have a happier final act of his life".
He never did have that happier final act. He died in a bad place. And walking Popham Beach on Sunday all I could think was:
A beach is a true refuge. Just curious and this is really a moving question. We are coming down in two weeks to look around with thoughts of moving. We are a quiet, married couple in our 40's. Our two loves are our animals (2 dogs, 3 cats) and the beach. We take several beach vacations a year and love the ocean. We thought since we work remote why not just move to a beach somewhere. Melbourne fits nicely with our budget and quiet lifestyle. A friend of ours who used to live by the beach said it's cool for the first year and then the novelty wears off and you stop going to the beach. I'm wondering how true that is? Do you still go to the beach often is at all anymore? People who live close to an ocean, how often do you go to/hang out at the beach?
I don't live anywhere close to a large body of water. Do you guys hang out at the beach often? Do you hang out at the beach at night? I live in a city surrounded by rivers (Montreal) and any chance I get, I go down to the river with some friends, chill, start a small fire, have a few beers and do some urban fishing. I could only imagine how much more awesome the whole experience would be living close to an ocean where there's more land, more water, and more open space! People who live near coast, how frequently do you go to the beach and how much time do you spend there? How often do you go for a beach walk?
Do you enjoy them? Why? What town/city do you live in and why is it nice / not nice? Long walks on the beach are not enjoyable.
Have you ever TRIED to walk in the sand? Especially if it's full of sticks or rocks or bugs. But even if the sand is clean, it's not a solid surface so your legs work way harder to even walk straight. It's really hard to walk on the beach. It's exhausting.
Not in the water... in the hard sand near the waters edge.... I live in Scotland where it is never warm enough to get your feet wet in the sea but I also go for a walk along the beach every day in the wet hard sand because its relaxing and not wet...
Also, yes, you're feet will get wet. But for one, it's just water, you'll most likely survive it, and also, that's like half of the fun of beach walks, to have your feet in the water. Sidewalks on beaches don't count. That's not walking on the beach. That's walking on a sidewalk on the beach. I live in Los Angeles, near some beaches, despite this, I pretty much never go to the beach , maybe once in every 3 months, and I’m wondering if this is the same for other people. It’s almost like I take it for granted, but when I lived in a non-coastal town, I missed the beach. Am I alone or do my coastal Americans do the same? How often do you go to the beach, if you've ever been?
Ocean beaches, not lake/river beaches. I'm particularly interested to hear from folks in interior states like Nebraska. Is the beach treated like Disney World, where you go maybe once in your childhood just for the experience? Do young folks still plan for big spring break road trips to the best beaches?
Went for a walk by the beach yesterday but couldn't enjoy it because there were too many people
I'm proud of myself for finally fathering the motivation to go for a walk. I usually go out at night since there are less people, but the weather was nice and I just knew that if I waited I'd just end up staying home. Plus, it just not the safest idea to go out at night. I wasn't planning to go by the beach for the exact reason that I knew it was going to be busy, but went anyway. I truly do love walking on the beach... in theory. I just can't relax when there are people around. It wasn't even THAT busy but I just knew I'd enjoy it so much more if I was the only one there. Living in the city I know that's not possible, but I just hate that I'm like this. I'd go out way more often if could just walk on empty streets. I feel so pathetic cause it's not like I'm interacting with these people. I'm just walking by. Why do I have to be so self conscious?
EDIT: If you go to the beach, how long is the journey? Do you drive, fly, or take public transportation of some sort? I grew up in Florida and never considered myself much of a beach person, but naturally I've been to the beach more times than I could ever count. I recently saw someone from Idaho say that they had never been to a body of water that they couldn't see across, and that set me to wondering about everyone else. I am lucky enough that I'll be spending a few months in a Mexican beach hown and I'm using this largely as a fitness camp to undo my laziness of the pandemic. There's a boxing gym so will be training there, but for my morning runs I have an interesting option available that I haven't had before, running on a beach instead of road.
I go to the beach a few times if a club I'm in has a social there, but outside of that? Eh, I'm pretty lazy (and busy, rip), so not a whole lot. It's mainly like if I get out of a class or work and my next thing is cancelled or postponed and I realize I'm already on campus and I have a block of time free so I might as well head down and just relax.
Pretty much the only people who go to the beach are those who normally live inland or in a different state and have never seen the beach before.
Me and several of my friends lived pretty close to the beach before coming here so it's nothing that special. Especially with the beach here being trashed by college students, there are definitely better beaches out there.
Other than the great views though, is this a good idea? The extra resistance as my feet dig into sand means the pure distance I can do is lowered, but idk if that is offset by well, it being extra work. It probably should be stated that I am somewhat overweight too, so maybe less impact is a good thing?
When I was a sophomore living in an 8 person cluster in San Rafael, my roommate and I would jump in it once a day since it was so close. He was a crazy bastard and pro athlete so definitely not your average student, but swore doing so would make our lives better infinitely. I'd say he was right
As a 1st year you'll probably go to the beach more often if you live in the on campus dorms (every dorm but FT). They're right by the beach and campus point. If you live off campus you'll probably go until the novelty wears off especially considering how far you'll be from it.
How often do you go to the beach?
I live kinda close to a sea, so at least once a month - my family would go there.
Then I ask one of my online friends who live in a landlocked part in China (it would days to reach the nearest coastline from where he lives). Says he has never seen the sea or been to a beach ever. Honestly I'm not sure if any actual science exists for this, as any googling has just led me to unreliable looking health blogs. But I guess I'd rather trust the anecdotal experience of people here over those.
